“Viva Cristo Rey !” When Pope Pius XI learned about the gesture and courage of the young Mexican Jesuit Miguel Agustín Pro when facing execution, the Holy Father instituted the Feast of Christ the King, which is now celebrated towards the end of November on the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, and which incidentally is also close to the liturgical feastday of the courageous martyr, now beatified. Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, S.J. (January 13, 1891–November 23, 1927) was unjustly executed during the persecution of the Catholic Church under the presidency of Plutarco Calles after trumped up charges of involvement in an assassination attempt against former Mexican President Álvaro Obregón. At the time of the killing of Pro, Mexico was under rule of the fiercely anti-clerical and anti-Catholic President Plutarco Elias Calles who had begun what writer Graham Greene called the fiercest persecution of religion anywhere since the reign of Elizabeth. Fr. Pro was beatified by John Paul II as a martyr on September 25, 1988. Born on January 13, 1891 in Guadalupe, Mexico, Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez was the eldest son of Miguel Pro and Josefa Juarez. Miguelito, as his doting family called him, was, from an early age, intensely spiritual and equally intense in his mischievousness, frequently exasperating his family with his humor and practical jokes. As a child, he had a daring precociouness that sometimes went too far, tossing him into near-death accidents and illnesses. On regaining consciousness after one of these episodes, young Miguel opened his eyes and blurted out to his frantic parents, I want some cocol (a colloquial term for his favorite sweet bread). Cocol became his nickname, which he would later adopt as a code name during this clandestine ministry. Miguel was particularly close to his older sister and after she entered a cloistered convent, he came to recognize his own vocation to the priesthood. Although he was popular with the senoritas and had prospects of a lucrative career managing his fathers thriving business concerns, Miguel renounced everything for Christ and entered the Jesuit novitiate in El Llano, Michoacan in 1911. He studied in Mexico until 1914, when a tidal wave of anti-Catholicism crashed down upon Mexico, forcing the novitiate to disband and flee to the United States, where Miguel and his brother seminarians escaped through Texas and New Mexico before arriving at the Jesuit house in Los Gatos, California. In 1915, Miguel was sent to a seminary in Spain, where he remained until 1924, when he went to Belgium for his ordination to the priesthood in 1925. Miguel suffered from a severe stomach problem and after three operations, when his health did not improve, his superiors, in 1926, allowed him to return to Mexico in spite of the grave religious persecution in that country. The churches were closed and priests went into hiding. Miguel spent the rest of his life in a secret ministry to the sturdy Mexican Catholics. In addition to fulfilling their spiritual needs, he also carried out the works of mercy by assisting the poor in Mexico City with their temporal needs. He adopted many interesting disguises in carrying out his secret mininstry. He would come in the middle of the night dressed as a beggar to baptize infants, bless marriages and celebrate Mass. He would appear in jail dressed as a police officer to bring Holy Viaticum to condemned Catholics. When going to fashionable neighbourhoods to procure for the poor, he would show up at the doorstep dressed as a fashionable businessman with a fresh flower on his lapel. His many exploits could rival those of the most daring spies. In all that he did, however, Fr. Pro remained obedient to his superiors and was filled with the joy of serving Christ and His Church. An assassination attempt by bombing against Álvaro Obregón (which only wounded the ex-president) in November 1927 provided the state with a pretext to capture Pro and his brothers Humberto and Roberto. A young engineer who was involved and confessed his part in the assassination testified the Pro brothers were not involved. Miguel and his brothers were taken to the Detective Inspectors Office in Mexico City. On November 13, 1927, President Calles ordered to have Pro executed under the pretext of the assassination, but in reality for defying the virtual outlawing of Catholicism. Calles had the execution meticulously photographed, and the newspapers throughout the country carried them on the front page the following day. Fr. Pro and his brothers were visited by Generals Roberto Cruz and Palomera Lopez around 11 p.m. on November 22, 1927. The next day, as Fr. Pro walked from his cell to the courtyard and the firing squad, he blessed the soldiers, knelt and briefly prayed quietly. Declining a blindfold, he faced his executioners with a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other and held his arms out in imitation of the crucified Christ and in a shouted out, May God have mercy on you! May God bless you! Lord, Thou knowest that I am innocent! With all my heart I forgive my enemies! Before the firing squad were ordered to shoot, Pro raised his arms in imitation of Christ and shouted the defiant cry, Viva Cristo Rey! -Long live Christ the King! When the initial shots of the firing squad failed to kill him, a soldier shot him point blank. Although the Mexican President Calles had forbidden any public demonstration, the people acted in open defiance. Never had the city seen such an enormous turnout for a funeral, which was held on the 24th November. As the martyrs caskets left the house, the spontaneous cry went up: Viva Cristo Rey! Thousands thronged the streets and balconies, throwing flowers, praying the rosary and singing. At the front of the Jesuit church of the Holy Family, a multitude accompanied the remains of Father Pro. Father Mendez Medina cried out, Make way for the martyrs of Christ the King! In response, a great and unanimous cry soared from the hearts and mouths of thousands: Viva Cristo Rey! It was a triumph - a glorious witness to the heroism of the brave martyr for Christ the King.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 23:16:23 +0000
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